Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- uncomfortable
- wry
- quiet evening
- reflective movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly viewed the film as a dull, overly familiar, and insufficiently self-aware independent drama.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Leigh leaves her reporting career in New York and returns to her parents' home, high school friends, and former lifeguard job.
Leigh takes leave from her New York City job because of emptiness and sadness.
Leigh's friendship with high school student Little Jason develops into an illicit relationship condemned by her friends.
The film follows Leigh's personal dissatisfaction, family disapproval, bullying, and shifting relationships around a local swimming pool.
Films like The Lifeguard, and why
The Graduate
shared themes of arrested adulthood, returning home, and melancholic self-reinvention
Lifeguard
shared small-town drift, adult dissatisfaction, and uncomfortable romantic entanglements
Summer of '42
shared wistful coming-of-age atmosphere, summer setting, and emotionally complicated relationships
Movie Details
- Director
- Liz W. Garcia
- Release Date
- 2013-08-30
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Rating
- 5.5 / 10 (306)
Cast
- Kristen Bell
- Mamie Gummer
- Martin Starr
- Joshua Harto
- Alex Shaffer
- David Lambert
- Amy Madigan
- Adam LeFevre
- John Finn
- Paulie Litt
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video
- Buy
- Amazon Video
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Lifeguard about?
- A burned-out New York reporter retreats to her hometown lifeguard job, where old friendships and a forbidden bond force her to confront her stalled adulthood.
- What is The Lifeguard like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Lifeguard as slow, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Lifeguard violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Lifeguard as mild.
- What did critics think of The Lifeguard?
- Critics broadly viewed the film as a dull, overly familiar, and insufficiently self-aware independent drama.
- Which films are like The Lifeguard?
- Films with a similar feel include The Graduate, Lifeguard, and Summer of '42.
- How long is The Lifeguard?
- The Lifeguard runs 98 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Lifeguard?
- In United States, The Lifeguard streams on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
